Lindsey Vonn Excites Her Fans With 'A Huge Step' Update

Lindsey Vonn makes major headway in her recovery journey.

The athlete just shared the happy news of her exit from the hospital on X after a prolonged stay due to complications from her injury at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

From crashing out of the competition after coming out of retirement to losing her dog a day after her exit, Lindsey Vonn has really been through it.

The ski racer shared a positive life update on her X a few hours ago, informing her fans that she is now out of the hospital. In the post, Vonn struck a pose with one of her dogs as she wore a gray hoodie with some writings presumably indicating how many medals she has won in her career.

Vonn let out a huge smile as she almost matched her dog's ginger fur with her blonde tresses, which fell softly on her face. "Thankful to be out of the hospital," the sports star wrote in the caption of her post, which has gathered nearly 20k likes and hundreds of comments.

"Those are some very gnarly X-rays, young lady!!! Take it easy and get well soon. You had a FANTASTIC skiing career," this X subscriber wrote. One more user thanked her for exhibiting the spirit of true sportsmanship despite her hospitalization, noting that the country remains proud of her.

The 41-year-old went into more details about her hospital stay in a new Instagram video where she revealed she stayed for two weeks, almost completely immobile. She described this phase as the most extreme and painful challenge she has ever had in her lifetime.

She explained that she had a complex tibia fracture, fractured her fibula head, and her tibia plateau, which was worsened by her compartment syndrome.

The star commended her doctor for saving her legs from being amputated by doing a fasciotomy, where he cut both sides of her legs open and allowed them to breathe. She referred to her ACL incident and how it introduced her to Dr. Tom Hackett, who was there in time to save her legs.

"Now I will focus on rehab and progressing from a wheelchair to crutches in a few weeks. It will take around a year for all of the bones to heal, and then I will decide if I want to take out all the metal or not, and then go back into surgery and finally fix my ACL," she concluded in the caption.

Vonn's participation at the competition did not come without a few controversies, such as an opinion from Greb Garber of USA Today, who declared that the athlete was way past her prime to appear in an event of such magnitude.

As shared by The Blast, the ski racer took to social media with a strong rebuttal, claiming that the statement was not a reflection of her abilities as an athlete, and it carries subtle undertones of ageism that should not be encouraged.

Vonn stressed that she is confident in who she is outside and within the racing world, adding that while she was away for six years, she had a blissful life. She concluded that her appearance in what would be her final Olympics was to give the best version of herself, and it is best not to make assumptions about her progress.

She also bragged about her outstanding records, which have made her one of the most successful Olympic athletes in the United States, with 82 World Cup race wins under her belt.

Vonn announced her return from retirement in 2024, after a successful partial knee replacement surgery, which would enable her to ski without pain.

The star had announced her comeback with hopes that she would be able to compete in this year's Winter Olympics, which was unfortunately cut short by yet another nasty injury.

As noted by The Blast, the ski racer described her return to skiing as a risk, especially as it came days after she suffered a torn ACL at the World Cup race in Switzerland on January 30, 2026. 

However, Vonn had calmed her fans down by undergoing thorough check-ups and physical evaluations before joining Team USA for the Italy event.

Her time in the competition unfortunately ended when she crashed into one of the plastic markers lining the tracks with her right leg and shoulder, and suffered the impact. She was subsequently airlifted from the venue and underwent a series of surgeries over the span of two weeks.

The sports star began her journey into Alpine ski racing in 2002 at Salt Lake City, and from there, she showcased her talent at the Winter Olympics in 2006, 2010 in Vancouver, and 2018 in PyeongChang. She has also experienced a few setbacks, like in 2014 when she suffered a knee injury.

So far, Vonn has won Olympic medals, alongside a solid reputation as the only American woman to clinch an Olympic gold medal in the event in 2010. She followed up with two bronze medals in the downhill category and Super-G in 2018.

The sportstar unfortunately stepped back from the game in 2019, noting that her body was feeling the weight of several injuries and expressed regret at missing out on her highly anticipated final season.